Join Dr Celestina Sagazio, Senior Historian of the National Trust, for an illustrated presentation exploring the history of the fascinating and unique Queen Victoria Market.
The Queen Victoria Market is a vibrant, cosmopolitan place that has won a place in our hearts and is a leading tourist attraction in Melbourne. Yet we almost lost the market many years ago. Threats of possible closure or demolition of parts of the site were averted in the 1970s, largely through the efforts of the National Trust and other community groups and individuals. There are no other markets of this scale, occupying the original buildings, anywhere in Australia.
The ‘Vic Market’ is the only one of the major nineteenth century markets in Australia to survive intact and still operate.

The site also has considerable significance for Melbournians as the location of the Old Melbourne Cemetery, Melbourne’s first official cemetery, which opened in 1837. Thousands of people are believed to be still buried underneath the market. Like the market, the Old Melbourne Cemetery is the source of many interesting tales.

Dr Celestina Sagazio, who has worked as an historian with the National Trust for 23 years, has published widely in the heritage field. Her publications include Cemeteries: Our Heritage, Conserving Our Cemeteries and The National Trust Research Manual. Celestina has conducted
extensive research into historic places in Victoria and is involved with the classifications and conservation lobbying work of the Trust. She is the organiser of the successful Full Moon and Halloween tours of the Melbourne General Cemetery.

Two new historians share what promises to be an informative and entertaining evening. Not to be missed!

“All the world over”: the transnational world of Australian radical and labour cartoonists, 1880s to 1920Speaker: Dr Nick DyrenfurthThis talk considers the transnational world of early Australian radical and labour cartoonists, focussing upon the work of well-known artists Phil May, Livingstone Hopkins, Montague Scott, Claude Marquet, Jim Case and, most prominently, the Victorian Will Dyson. Political cartooningconstituted a vitally important element of the cultural politics of the early Australian labour movement. However, most historians have assumed that the visual evidence of this period was merely confirmation of an existing or latent working-class consciousness, rather than understanding the role of iconic representation in the making and re-making of class.

This talk has two main concerns. Firstly it will show how Australian cartoonists drew on their Anglo-American backgrounds and the parallel overseas activities of the day. Secondly, in this context, it will explore the nature and purpose of their collective project, which created apopulist narrative of ‘heroes and villains’ for political Labor: villainous capitalistic ‘Fat Men’ battled it out against heroic male ‘workers’ and a more collective vision of ‘the People’.Nick Dyrenfurth is a political historian who lectures in the School of Historical Studies at Monash University.

The social history of workplace Australian football 1860-1939Speaker: Peter BurkeThis presentation is based upon doctorate research into the social history of workplace football. The doctorate examines the social context and development of workplace Australian football from the period in the early 1860s, when the game emerged as a distinct code, to the outbreak of the Second World War. The presentation will explain the main findings of the research. Although discussion is restricted mainly to the state of Victoria and, in particular, the metropolitan area of Melbourne, developments in other states and regions of Australia are considered where they areimportant in tracing the evolution of workplace football.

Peter Burke is enrolled in doctorate program at RMIT University and works also at the research office in RMIT. In recent years he has published a number of articles on the social history of Australian football and is currently editing a book based on papers presented to the 2007Footy Fever conference. He is also the convenor for the Victorian chapter of the Australian Society for Sports History.

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Welcome to RHSV News

The Royal Historical Society of Victoria was formed in 1909 and is a community organisation committed to collecting, researching and sharing an understanding of the history of Victoria.

With the support of a large number of volunteers, the RHSV provides a full program of activities (e.g. lectures, seminars, excursions and exhibitions) for the benefit of members and the general public. The Society publishes a bi-monthly newsletter, a reviewed journal and books of historical interest.